Smart Tuition FAQ

List of 14 frequently asked questions.

• What is Smart Tuition?

  Smart Tuition is a new online system that manages individual Punahou School accounts. Starting with the 2019 – 2020 school year, families must use Smart Tuition to pay tuition and other school fees, including monthly cafeteria charges. This fee will be billed in the first statement of the 2019 – 2020 school year.

• Why is Punahou making this change?

  Smart Tuition provides many conveniences for Punahou families, such as credit and debit card payment options, online payment history and payment management. This is part of a larger, longterm initiative to improve the School’s business processes.

• Are parents required to enroll in Smart Tuition?

  All Punahou families are required to enroll in Smart Tuition. There is an annual $40 processing fee per household, which covers all students in that household. This fee will be billed in the first statement of the 2019 – 2020 school year. Tuition, cafeteria charges, Co-Curricular programs and other eligible charges will be billed to the Smart Tuition account.

• When will parents be able to enroll in Smart Tuition?

  Current parents will receive an email in early May from Smart Tuition with instructions on how to enroll in the program. The initial email will come from customerservice@smarttuitionmessages.com. Subsequent emails will come from customerservice@smarttuition.com.

• What payment options are available with Smart Tuition?

  Smart Tuition offers automatic or one-time electronic payments. Acceptable payment methods are credit or debit cards, ACH (electronic payments) or checks. Payment can be made online or over the phone.
  
  

  VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards are accepted, and a 2.85% processing fee will be paid by the cardholder. Parents will be notified by email one month before the expiration date of credit cards and debit cards. The 2.85% processing fee does not apply to ACH payments.
  
  

  Checks may be mailed directly to Smart Tuition. Families on monthly tuition plans will be required to enroll in an automatic/electronic payment plan, although parents will still be able to mail in checks for payment.
  
  

  Call-in payments to Smart Tuition – either check information, credit card or debit card – are also possible.

• When signing up for automatic payments, how do I find my banking information?

  There are two numbers you’ll need to provide and they can both be found on a blank check. Your bank routing number is a nine-digit code that’s based on the U.S. Bank location where your account was opened. It’s the first set of numbers printed on the bottom of your checks, on the left side.
  
  

  Your account number (usually 10 - 12 digits) is specific to your personal account. It’s the second set of numbers printed on the bottom of your checks, just to the right of the bank routing number. You can also find your account number on your monthly statement.

• Will I still be able to send payments directly to the Business Office?

  No, all payments must be sent directly to Smart Tuition. Payments will no longer be accepted at the Business Office starting on July 1, 2019.

• What address should I use to mail my checks to Smart Tuition?

  Mailing information for Smart Tuition can be found online.
  
  

  It is strongly suggested to use the Los Angeles address. Also, checks sent to Smart Tuition require inclusion of the Smart Family ID. This ID is only available after completing the enrollment process.

• Does Smart Tuition offer customer service?

  Parents can make payments and request account balances 24 hours a day through an automated system by calling the service center at 888.868.8828. Customer service representatives are available Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 1 a.m. Eastern time, and on weekends, 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.

• Who should I contact at Punahou School with questions about Smart Tuition?

  Questions should be directed to Student Accounts in the Business Office at 944.5810 or studentaccounts@punahou.edu.

• Will changes to family information (address, email, etc.) made in Smart Tuition affect family information maintained by the School?

  No. Changes to family information will stay within Smart Tuition and will not affect information maintained by the School.
  
  

  Similarly, changes made to your information at the School will not be reflected in your Smart Tuition account.
  
  

  As a reminder, please contact Mailing Records to alert the School when you have a change of address, telephone number or other pertinent information. Changes can be made by emailing studentchange@punahou.edu or calling 808.944.5889.

• Why is the name on my Smart Tuition account not showing properly?

  Names in Smart Tuition will appear with no “special characters.” The only valid characters are A..Z a..z 0..9 and space. Okina, kahako, ë, è, é, and ê, and symbols like dashes and hyphens will be replaced with latin characters or spaces. Prefixes and suffixes are not allowed.

• How secure is Smart Tuition?

  Smart Tuition is part of a larger portfolio of Blackbaud's student information systems being deployed in phases over the next few months at Punahou School. Once fully deployed, the platform will be the one centralized place parents can go to manage their child's educational experience at Punahou School.
  
  

  Smart Tuition will be accepting and processing all payments, utilizing a highly regulated and secure platform.
  
  

  As a payment processor, Blackbaud complies with the Payment Card Industry's (PCI's) Data Security Standard (DSS). The PCI DSS is the industry standard for protecting payment information, and is a requirement for processing payments with most major credit cards, including Visa and MasterCard. With over 6 million transactions per year, Blackbaud is a Level 1 merchant, which is the highest level with the strictest requirements. As a Level 1 merchant, Blackbaud must undergo annual third-party audits of the 12 core elements of its security program. Blackbaud's compliance with the PCI DSS can be validated at any time by going to either Visa's or Mastercard's websites.

  Blackbaud also undergoes further review as part of its compliance with the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX), SSAE16 SOC1 and SOC2, which require accuracy of the company's financial reports and effectiveness of its controls. These regulations have specific security requirements that must be demonstrated as part of the annual audit.
  
  

  Finally, for families outside of the United States, Blackbaud carries a EU-US Privacy Shield certification, which ensures that the company's data practices meet the EU requirements. Review Blackbaud's Privacy Shield Certification.

• Where should I go for additional information about Smart Tuition?

  Smart Tuition has additional information available online on the Smart Tuition website.